Fatigue is a common issue in a variety of contexts. Although people may know in general of the issues that may be created by fatigue, individuals oftentimes fail to recognize debilitating fatigue in themselves as evidenced, for example, by the number of motor vehicle accidents that involve drowsy drivers. Additionally, fatigue has been determined to reduce decision-making capabilities by reducing the set of options that are considered and/or by reducing the effort undertaken to analyze a situation and to make an effective decision. In other words, people who are fatigued may tend to go with an easy solution to a situation because they do not wish to make the effort required to consider all of the options or they may not recall that several alternatives exist.
Notwithstanding the risks posed by fatigue, the advice given to people who are fatigued or may become fatigued is generally relatively vague and in not individually tailored for an individual or the particular circumstances that currently confront the individual. For example, an individual may simply be advised to get a good night's sleep, eat a healthy diet or take a nap when the individual feels tired. In some circumstances, one or all of these forms of general advice may be inappropriate or inapplicable. For example, napping is commonly touted to reduce both fatigue and sleepiness. However, napping has a number of drawbacks that may make it difficult for an individual to implement in a number of circumstances, although it is left to the individual to determine how to apply, if at all, the generalized advice of napping to reduce fatigue.